After going 1-1 on the road to open the season in Oregon, the
Eagles head home for games against Idaho on Thursday and Corban
College on Saturday

Upcoming Schedule

Eagle Webcasts . . .All of Eastern Washington's women's basketball games at
home, as well as all Big Sky Conference games, will be available to
view, free of charge, at www.bigskytv.org.

By Keenan Bowen, EWU Sports
Information

The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team will
be back in action in Cheney, Wash., this week after starting the
2009-10 season with one win and one loss on the road. The Eagles
won their season opener on Nov. 14 at Portland 72-64 and lost last
night at Oregon 86-48.

The Eagles will play their first regular season home game this
Thursday (Nov. 19) against the Idaho Vandals, with game time set
for 7:05 p.m. Pacific time. Two days later on Saturday (Nov. 21),
Eastern will welcome Corban College to Reese Court for a 2:05 p.m.
tipoff.

"We were pleased to get a road split -- our goal going into it
was to at least a split," said Eastern head coach Wendy
Schuller. "We were happy with that. Now turning the page
and coming back home, it's exciting for us to play our first
regular season games at Reese Court."

Idaho is currently 0-1 having lost its season opener at home
against Gonzaga 80-57. Leading the Vandals in scoring were guards
Bianca Cheever and Shaena Kuehu, who both put up 15 points against
the Bulldogs.

"We have high expectations on ourselves for defending our home
court, and, adding the fact that Idaho is one of our local rivals,
makes this a big game," said Schuller. "For us it's going to be
important to be rested after our long road trip. They are a team we
play year-in and year-out, and they are very talented. I know (head
coach) Jon (Newlee) and his system very well. I know they will come
in and give us a battle."

Corban College, a NAIA school from Salem, Ore., is currently 0-2
after losing their first two games of the season against
Lewis-Clark State College and Warner Pacific College in the Staples
Classic in Lewiston, Idaho.

"The same goes for the quick turnaround Saturday against Corban
College -- we obviously want to defend our home court," said
Schuller. "It's good for us to play these games so close together
because that is what it will be like in the conference."

The Eagles will then travel to Seattle, Wash., for the Husky
Classic hosting by the University of Washington. Eastern will play
the hometown Huskies on Friday, Nov. 27 at 2 p.m. Pacific time and
will take on the University of Memphis on Sunday Nov. 29 at 12 p.m.
Pacific time.

Eagle Returning Letter Winners . . .

Julie Piper attained the most impressive
recognition for the Eagles during her sophomore season in 2008-09,
as she earned All-Big Sky honorable mention accolades. She also
ranked highly in the league's statistical rankings, placing fifth
in free throw shooting (78.3 percent), sixth in rebounds per game
(6.8) and 18th in points per game (11.1). Her shooting from the
charity stripe also placed her 130th among NCAA Division I players
and was the eighth-best in Eastern history. She will enter her
junior campaign second in EWU history for career free throw
shooting percentage (76.0). She had the best scoring output by an
Eagle in the 2008-09 season, scoring 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting
in Eastern's battle with Big Sky runner-up Portland State on Jan.
24. Piper also set the team pace in rebounds in 18 different
contests.

Kyla Evans continued her attack on the Eastern
record books as a sophomore. She made 60 three-point baskets, the
fifth-highest single-season total ever recorded by an Eagle, and
moved her career sum to 112, good for fifth place. In fact, the
sophomore's current career three-point shooting percentage of 38.4
is on pace to set the school record. Evans placed 82nd nationally
in three-point shooting percentage (36.1) and 100th in three-point
baskets per game (2.07). She was third and eighth in those
respective categories in the Big Sky ranks. She made 6-of-10 in a
90-75 win over Montana State on Jan. 29 to help the Eagles to
within one of the school record of three-point makes in a game (EWU
shot 13-of-27 from beyond the arc in that contest). Evans showed
her prowess in the classroom, as well, earning ESPN The Magazine
Academic All-District 8 first team accolades. She was also the EWU
Scholar-Athlete of the Month for December.

Nicole Scott had an outstanding junior season,
as well, and the best display of her skills came on Dec. 13 against
Pacific that helped her earn Co-Big Sky Player of the Week honors..
In that contest, Scott nailed all six of her shots, including three
treys, in the best shooting performance by an Eagle since Felice
Moore also went 6-of-6 at Montana State on March 6, 2004.
Additionally, Scott crafted an impressive streak of consecutive
free throws made with 29 straight from Nov. 25-Feb. 7, just two shy
of being one of the 22 longest such streaks in Division I history.
She led the league in free throw shooting in Big Sky games by
converting on 86.5 percent of her attempts (32-of-37). She was also
an intimidating force inside, placing sixth in the conference in
blocks per game (0.97).

Jessica Huntington was one of the steadiest
point guards in the country in her junior season, as her
assist-turnover ratio of 1.85 (94-to-50) was the tops in the Big
Sky and 23rd best among Division I players. She also averaged 3.24
assists per game, placing seventh in that category among league
players. She converted 40.7 of her three-point attempts (22-of-54),
the sixth-best average in Eastern Washington history.

Tatiana Sparavalo also had some impressive
performances during her sophomore season. She scored 15 in a
challenging road game versus UNLV and shot at a high level against
Portland on Dec. 15, making 5-of-9 attempts from the floor. In
addition, Sparavalo had six of Eastern's points during a
game-changing 18-3 run in a victory over Weber State on Jan. 10.

Brianne Ryan started 19 games as a freshman and
saw her shooting percentages rise once league play commenced,
markedly in the three-point category. She shot 27.3 percent from
the arc in non-conference games (9-of-33) and 45.2 percent in
league contests (14-of-31).

Chene Cooper also played well as a freshman in
2008-09. Her aggressive nature showed in her steals per game
average of 1.62, seventh-best in the Big Sky. She also placed 12th
in assists per contest with 2.41. In addition, she improved her
shot-selection and shot-conversion skills throughout the season,
making just 28.3 percent of her attempts through the first 22 games
before converting on 41.3 percent over the last seven games.

Breauna Russell played in 16 games as an
Eastern freshman in 2008-09, finishing the year with 16 points and
11 steals.

EWU 2008-09 Season Recap . . .

The Eastern women's basketball team made some significant
strides in the right direction in 2008-09, going 10-19, 5-11 in Big
Sky Conference play, to improve upon its 4-25 record from the year
before, 1-15 in league play. The Eagles were among a handful of
teams at the NCAA Division I level to earn 2.5 times as many
victories - and five times as many league wins - as its counterpart
did a year ago.

The two seniors who wrapped up their Eagle careers in the
2008-09 season were co-captains Amy Bratvold and Morgan Rulon.
Bratvold started 10 of Eastern's last 13 games and averaged 6.3
points and 3.4 rebounds per contest, while Rulon saw action in
seven contests and scored five points in her last home game on Feb.
14 versus Idaho State.

As a team, the Eagles also put together some impressive
performances in 2008-09.

One of those was a dominating 82-68 road win over Weber State on
Jan. 10, which saw Eastern put an end to a 22-game losing streak
the Eagles had against the Wildcats in Ogden, Utah. It was also the
largest margin of victory for Eastern Washington in a Big Sky road
game since a 77-46 win at Portland State on Jan. 15, 2005.

The Eagles shot 56.3 percent from the floor in that game
(27-of-48), its best shooting performance since making 57.8 percent
in an 81-56 win over the Vikings on Feb. 12, 2005. Eastern also
converted 58.3 percent of its three-point attempts in that game
(7-of-12), something that was last attained against Idaho on Jan.
10, 2007.

Another outstanding road performance occurred on Nov. 28, when
the Eagles defeated Mountain West Conference-member UNLV 70-69 in
overtime in the semifinal round of the Lady Rebel Round-Up. That
victory was pivotal in that it snapped Eastern's 16-game losing
stream away from home. It was also EWU's first-ever win over UNLV
and its initial one against a Mountain West foe since defeating
Wyoming 53-30 on Jan. 10, 2004.

Eastern Washington claimed another overtime game in its Big Sky
opener on Jan. 2, a 70-64 win over Northern Arizona. The exciting
game saw the teams tie 13 times and exchange leads on 16 occasions
before Eastern ended the contest on a 6-0 run. The overtime game
was the team's third of the season, the most played by the Eagles
since the 2004-05 squad also had three contests go beyond 40
minutes. The victory allowed Eastern to claim its league lid-lifter
for the sixth time in seven years.

In their first home game of the season on Nov. 21 versus San
Francisco, the Eagles rallied from a 38-33 halftime deficit to
outscore USF 47-32 after the break in an 80-70 victory. That win
marked the initial time Eastern Washington had rallied from behind
at the interval since a 29-27 deficit became a 66-63 victory over
Sacramento State on Feb. 24, 2007. The win also allowed EWU to
claim its home opener for the fourth straight year.

Even though the Eagles were defeated on the road by Sacramento
State, 74-67, on Feb. 5, the team showed its drive and refusal to
back down no matter the score. The team stormed back from a
20-point deficit with less than 10 minutes remaining and went on a
21-2 run to cut the previous 61-41 margin to just two, 64-62, with
3:20 to play.

Eastern's 72-46 handling of Eastern Oregon on Dec. 30 marked the
team's largest margin of victory since a 96-57 win over Corban
College on Nov. 17, 2006. The victory was also EWU's fifth of the
season, allowing the Eagles to surpass their win total from the
previous season before the month of December had even concluded.